I feed my audio through a dbx mic preamp/processor
instead of relying on just the radio mic amp and compressor.
The compressor in the radio was never designed to handle
high quality audio, and of course the radio does not have
a noise gate, limiter, and audio expander like the dbx unit!
Also, keep in mind that your radio uses RF compression while
the DBX uses AF compression, and you can hear the difference!
It's my personal opinion that after spending alot of money
on a nice transceiver, it only makes sense to invest a couple
of more dollars on audio gear to make sure that your station
is not only heard, but sounds good!
Click here to read the spec's on the dbx286a!
For those of you who think that the SSB audio passband
is too limiting for great audio ... don't beleive it!
There are two primary limiting factors in great SSB audio:
1 - The crystal filters in your transmitter, and
2 - the crystal filters in the receiving stations radio.
These filters directly affect the audio bandwidth of
your radio, and the audio that your ear processes!
Some radios come stock offering a reasonable
audio passband (like my Kenwood TS-940).
Of course, one of the best ways to realize the
benefit of your audio tinkering is to work AM.
That's one mode that will boast all your hard work!
Catch me on the air and HEAR for yourself!
To get the audio to one or more radios, I use
a commercial quality audio mixer.
This is the
1202 mixer I use.
Both the Mackie 1202 and the DBX286A are mounted
in a half-rack above the main operating position.
One caveat to those reading this information:
All of this audio manipulation is my attempt to create
easy listening, broadcast quality, arm-chair listening.
If you're an avid DX'er, then don't even consider
trying to reproduce what I have done here!
Broadcast quality audio does not
cut through DX pile-ups!
When I want to work DX, I change over to one
of my higher pitched, raspy microphones!
If you're interested in building a microphone
compressor with noise gate, have a look at these
new IC's! They're the latest and greatest!
SSM2166.PDF __ or __ SSM2165.PDF
